The Blood Princess: Episode One: The Blood Rite Saga: Season One, #1

By Dylan Keefer

Blood, Vampires, Conspiracy, Mystery, A Thrilling Story Like You've Never Read Before.

 

Half vampire Prudence frantically awakens inside a coffin in modern-day Maine, her Victorian life nothing but the distant past. Milo and Charlotte Davenport, the only remaining members of a family sworn to protect her grave befriend her as Prudence suffers through hellish flashbacks and faces deadly threats which terrorize her existence. Humans and vampires both race to kill her. But why? Constant threat looms, as does her own will toward self-destruction. There is no safe place left in the world. Will the truth save her from herself and help her save her newfound friends or will it send her spiraling out of control and closer to imminent death?

 

Sparkly "Twilight" Vampires? I don't think so; this is not a story for the squeamish or faint of heart. This is a tale of both physical and psychological horror is "The Vampire Diaries: The Originals" meets the gruesome world of "The Underworld Trilogy."

 

The Blood Rite Saga

The Blood Empire: One Episode out of Five

The Blood Princess: Five Episodes out of Five

The Blood Prince: Zero Episodes out of Five

The Blood Queen: Zero Episodes out of Five

The Blood King: Zero Episodes out of Five

The Blood Throne: Zero Episodes out of Five

 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Purple Press
• Release date: Dec 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386079064

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. Flashes of brick walls and floorboards mixed with the blind spots in her vision. She struggled to move her limp body across the bloody wooden floor. The stench of death loomed over her. The pain in her broken legs shot up her body like electricity every time she moved. Her surroundings were blurry. The spots were getting bigger. There was tightness in her chest. A figure stood over her and stretched out a hand. She screamed.

Her eyes opened, and her body involuntarily shot up. She hit her head almost immediately. She was shoved back down from the impact, hitting the back of her head. She opened her eyes. Darkness was all she could see, and pain spread around her skull. She was lightheaded. The air around her was heavy and thick when she inhaled. It made her feel like she was suffocating. She tried to push whatever was on top of her out of the way. When she put her hands in front of her, all she felt was stone. She checked all around her, touching the walls on both sides and the one she was laying on. She was trapped, lying in a stone prison.

She started slamming her fists against the stone on top of her. Her hoarse voice ripped out of her throat, causing her pain. She screamed for help until her throat felt like it was filled with broken glass. She couldn't breathe. Her whole body shook. She needed to get out of there. There was no air, no light, no nothing. A faint cracking noise sounded. Her hand rammed through the stone, breaking it into a thousand pieces.

A gust of air shoved its way in. It calmed her a little. Only faint light streamed down from the medium sized hole at around head level. She reached up, breaking the cracked pieces of stone around the hole, worming her way out. The light was blinding.

She inhaled as deep as she could despite the fact the air felt like ice shards stabbing her lungs. She was afraid it was going to escape from her again. Scrambling out of the stone box she sat down on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, shivering. Her mind was swirling around and around. When she closed her eyes all she could see were the bloody floorboards and the shadowy figure.

She sat there, rocking back and forth until she was no longer shaking, and her breath was steady. Her eyes were now somewhat used to the light, and the only thing that hurt was her slowly swelling hand. She looked around.

The structure she was in was a completely gray cube made of stone, aside from the wooden door. There were two stained glass windows. Each had a different colorful bird with large wings on it. They were on opposite sides of each other, right in the middle of the long walls. She got up and turned, almost falling down from what she saw.

There were several stone coffins on slabs all around. She was in a mausoleum. She looked down to the one she had burst from. The lid was in pieces, as well some of the sides. But the first name was still legible. Prudence.

No, no, no. I'm not dead. She felt her heart speed up again. She was out of breath as flashes of a knife holding hand filled her mind. Then she was back on that floor, heart in her throat, desperately trying to get away. Need to get out. Need to run.

She scrambled, running backward, and soon tripped over the dress she wore. She hit the wooden door with her back. Before she could regain her balance, the hinges gave away, and she fell with the door.

The impact shook her to the core, and the bright light felt like scalding water pouring over her bare arms. She got up, surprised she had that much strength. Around her were other stone houses like the one she came out of. There were also round marble slabs all around her, with different names and ages on them. She realized she was in a graveyard. Rows of tall trees framed the graves. Their branches hung over the memorials, producing a thick shade all around.

She couldn't stay in the sun anymore, it was blurring her vision, and her skin felt sore. She walked over to the closest tree to hide under its shade. Her body was a burden to her, the pain in her arms and back spreading over her, pushing her down into the earth. The muscles in her body were rigid. She did all she could to push the nightmare away from her mind for now. But the images sprouted up like mushrooms, haunting her.

To ignore them, she focused on remembering the name she saw on the coffin she came out of. Prudence. She couldn't remember if that was her name or not. In fact, she realized she couldn't remember anything about her life. Apart from the nightmare. She clutched onto that name, hoping it was hers.

Prudence was rubbing her now bruised and swollen hand, staring at the short grass. She noticed a curious shadow. It was longer than all the branches and was swinging back and forth in the wind. The shape reminded her of something…

CHAPTER TWO

Asharp pain, as if a knitting needle was boring into her mind crumpled her to the ground. The world around her melted away and she was pushing through a crowd. Prudence's hand was not swollen. It was gripping a shawl wrapped around her head instead. A mixture of smells and voices filled her mind. The torches around her made her flinch. She pushed her way through the crowd until she was far enough to see what was going on.

A woman stood on a wooden stage with a rope around her neck. Her hair was wet and matted. Her eyes were red, and her face was swollen. Her frail, malnourished body was shivering in the wind. The man next to her pushed her over, and she fell down, closing her eyes. A crack echoed, followed by cheering.

The image faded and muddled with Prudence’s surroundings. Her breath stuck in her throat. She couldn’t stop seeing the woman’s face no matter how much she shook her head.

Prudence got up and started running. As if getting away from that spot would also mean getting away from those nightmares. She didn't care if the sun was shining on her, or if the stones she tripped on left bruises and cuts on her legs. After a while, she didn't even feel the ground under her feet.

When she finally tripped hard enough on a root, she didn't hit the ground. She flew out of the graveyard, and her body collided with something metal traveling at a great speed. Her bones cracked under pressure. The force warped her body in front of her very eyes. The metal stopped, and Prudence flew out, hitting the ground.

Oh, fuck! A rough male voice reached Prudence’s ears.

She opened her eyes, the massive pain radiating from every part of her body was the only thing she could think of. She saw her arm. That is not how an arm should bend was the only thing she could think of. The man above her was panicking.

Okay okay, you're alive. Hold on, please. Come on you goddamn phone. Yes, there was a car accident. Please hurry, the girl's hurt badly. We're at…

Prudence couldn’t stay conscious anymore. She let herself slip away. Her vision filled with white shuddering spots.

A gaggle of voices and lights brought her back to reality. She opened her eyes and her vision slowly cleared. There was a faint high-pitched sound coming from the outside of what looked like a metal box filled with things she didn't recognize. A man's face was hovering over her.

She wanted to jump up and scream. The pain she was in as soon as she moved reminded her that this wasn't the dream she had.

My name’s Mike. Glad to see you’re back with us. You had an accident and broke some bones. You’re also dehydrated and malnourished. I gave you something for the pain. Nod if you can understand me.

Prudence was too scared to do anything but nod. The man was all smiles and soft gestures.

We’ll be coming into traffic as soon as we come to the main road. A woman’s voice came up from behind her, startling Prudence.

It's okay; it's okay. Mike reached over, trying to calm his patient down. Prudence's gaze shifted to Mike's jugular. Her glance focused on a vein on the side of his neck. Her vision tunneled, and all she could hear was the man's heartbeat. She could feel her mouth filling with saliva.

She tried to figure out why her stomach started growling. A strange smell filled her nostrils, making her even hungrier. Mike stared at her face, wide eyed. He pulled back,